Hamas said Saedni had headed Tawhid and Jihad, a group with an Islamist ideology shared by al-Qaida, while the Israeli military said he had helped found a kindred militant Salafi movement, the Hashura Council of the Mujahideen.

Saedni had recently been planning a attack that would be carried out in the neighboring Egyptian Sinai, the Israeli military said in a statement. The desert peninsula has seen a surge of Islamist militant activity during the political upheaval rocking Cairo since early 2011.

A number of Jihadist Salafi groups have surfaced in Gaza in recent years. Unlike Hamas, they endorse an ideology of global Jihad and some accuse Hamas of failing to implement Islamic laws in the coastal enclave.

Al-Saedni became notorious after men claiming affiliation to Tawhid and Jihad kidnapped Italian political activist Vittorio Arrigoni in April 2011, and demanded the Salafi leader’s release from Hamas-run jail in exchange.

Al-Saedni was called in by security forces to negotiate with the kidnappers during a police raid, which ended in two of the kidnappers being shot. The Salafi leader was released from Gaza jail in September 2011 and has since kept a low profile.

An Aussie immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave is founder and managing editor of Israellycool, one of the world's most popular pro-Israel blogs (and the one you are currently reading) He is a happy family man, and a lover of steak, Australian sports and girlie drinks